What have I done?

[Price]

So I steadfastly resisted fountain pens. They kept popping up on BST, I kept giving myself reasons not to buy until someone else finally removed the temptation for me. I don't need another addiction. I'm left-handed. I don't write enough to justify it. Whatever. Custom B&B ink? Interesting, but I've got enough AD's to feed (apparently strops this month) and the paypal account is pretty thin. Not happening. Build your own pen box out of a cigar box? Hey, I've got plenty of cigar boxes just lying around looking for a good use! I could just....hold on, there. Why do I need a pen box? I'm NOT BUYING PENS! Man, I'm good. I've got this AD thing licked. I've won!

So yesterday it hits me when I'm in the stationery aisle looking for notebooks to write in with my three new pens. What the hell?!?! How did this happen? Zero to hooked before I even knew what I was doing. Hey wait, I still don't. Where's the sticky that gives me all the care & feeding tips for my fountain pens? You know, like the one that convinced me that maintaining a straight razor was something I could do, so I could enjoy shaving and save some cashola at the same time? Yeah that one worked out well. One of you damned enabling so-and-so's needs to get cracking on that. Or is there an Idiot's Guide to Using Fountain Pens out there somewhere already?

All jokes aside, I am woefully short on knowledge, but I guess I'll pick most of that up along the way. I'll start with an easy one. I'm trying to identify a good fast-drying ink for my gnarl-fisted left-handed self. The Noodler's Bernanke inks look great, but the spectrum is kinda limited. (Blue. Black. Oh, the possibilities!) Any recommendations?

[Mr5x5]

Best wishes with your new AD and thanks for your service. Good luck with the sticky thing as well, I've been hinting about that for some time and haven't seen much appear yet.

[Mike H]

Almost all of Noodlers Bullet Proof inks dry fast. Bay State Blue is beautiful but every now and again it would act up, clogging the nib, smells kinda funny too. When I dropped my bottle in the drive last week, I decided not to replace it and went with polar blue instead. I would highly recommend getting some samples from Goulet and trying out various colors. Bernanke does dry fast and looks good, but it is not water resistant and will bleed with just a drop of water.

[rickcharles606]

I too am a left handed and just received my Noodler's Bernanke Blue,and I love it. I will say this, I'm also new to fountain pen usage and sought a fast drying ink. Before I'd gotten my Bernanke blue, I was using samples sent to me by a fellow B&B'er to try out. None of which claims being a "fast dry" ink, and was having no problems with smearing or smudging. I wouldn't limit myself to only fast drying inks...and I've also learned that a fine nib allows the ink to dry faster because it doesn't lay down as much ink when it writes. Good luck ;-)

[Walter Sobchak]

So I steadfastly resisted fountain pens. They kept popping up on BST, I kept giving myself reasons not to buy until someone else finally removed the temptation for me. I don't need another addiction. I'm left-handed. I don't write enough to justify it. Whatever. Custom B&B ink? Interesting, but I've got enough AD's to feed (apparently strops this month) and the paypal account is pretty thin. Not happening. Build your own pen box out of a cigar box? Hey, I've got plenty of cigar boxes just lying around looking for a good use! I could just....hold on, there. Why do I need a pen box? I'm NOT BUYING PENS! Man, I'm good. I've got this AD thing licked. I've won!

So yesterday it hits me when I'm in the stationery aisle looking for notebooks to write in with my three new pens. What the hell?!?! How did this happen? Zero to hooked before I even knew what I was doing. Hey wait, I still don't. Where's the sticky that gives me all the care & feeding tips for my fountain pens? You know, like the one that convinced me that maintaining a straight razor was something I could do, so I could enjoy shaving and save some cashola at the same time? Yeah that one worked out well. One of you damned enabling so-and-so's needs to get cracking on that. Or is there an Idiot's Guide to Using Fountain Pens out there somewhere already?
All jokes aside, I am woefully short on knowledge, but I guess I'll pick most of that up along the way. I'll start with an easy one. I'm trying to identify a good fast-drying ink for my gnarl-fisted left-handed self. The Noodler's Bernanke inks look great, but the spectrum is kinda limited. (Blue. Black. Oh, the possibilities!) Any recommendations?

Dudeness, we are birds of a feather. Hatched pretty much the same time, I'd say. Learning is fun, though. I just wish my Paypal account wasn't so barren at the moment.

[demcav]

I use Lamy blue-black bottled ink in a vintage Pelikan that has a broad nib. Besides the ink having a very nice blue-black color, it dries quickly, which works well with this pen's wet nib. But this is an iron gall ink, not recommended for all pens and nibs. I flush the pen after every 2 - 3 fills to prevent any potential issues from the iron gall. Lamy blue-black ink sold in cartridges is NOT iron gall, but since none of my pens take cartridges I'm not sure how quickly the cartridge formula of this ink dries.

I prefer using Noodler's ink in my drier pens or those with finer nibs, because I find Noodler's inks flow pretty well.

Dale

[DunEdinRanger]

I hadn't used a fountain pen since 8th grade - to give you an idea of the length of time that has elapsed - I'm pretty sure color film wasn't invented yet. :lol:

And then last fall, I met BrianW at a Fountain Pen Show :confused1 and I was hooked.

By the way, did you know some companies make fountain pens for lefties?

[Price]

By the way, did you know some companies make fountain pens for lefties?

Yes I actually do have a lefty Pelikan that my wife bought me about 5 years ago that I never really used much. I dug it out & flushed it out, but it is sloooooow on ink, to the point where it seems scratchy. I wasn't aware of any others, though.

[DunEdinRanger]

Oh, you're going to be hating me...

Sailor 1911 Left Handed Fountain Penhttp://www.fountainpenhospital.com/images/sailor_images/11-2023-332.jpg (http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/Index_Showcase.asp?BOD=/collections/collection.asp%3FCK%3D1478%26MFG%3D90)

[Geordon]

So yesterday it hits me when I'm in the stationery aisle looking for notebooks to write in with my three new pens.


Ah, yes, the dreaded NBAD. Notebook AD. I have it pretty bad, have for years. Just where I'm sitting at my home office desk, I have 4 different notebooks. I've got another 6 notebooks of various types in my bedroom, and at least as many in the living room. That sad thing is that they are mostly blank, but I'm working on that. Gotta use the B&B ink for something, right? ;)

So, tell us, what notebooks and what pens? (One of us!)

[Price]

Oh, you're going to be hating me...

Sailor 1911 Left Handed Fountain Penhttp://www.fountainpenhospital.com/images/sailor_images/11-2023-332.jpg (http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/Index_Showcase.asp?BOD=/collections/collection.asp%3FCK%3D1478%26MFG%3D90)

I curse your very existence, Lou.

That's more than I'm willing to commit at the moment, but if I get bit anywhere nearly as bad as I did with straights, I'm sure it won't be long. You don't know any good divorce attorneys, do you?

[Geordon]

I flush the pen after every 2 - 3 fills to prevent any potential issues from the iron gall. Lamy blue-black ink sold in cartridges is NOT iron gall,

Dale

As a side note, iron gall ink is usually marketed specifically to the calligraphy market, and is used with dip/quill pens. Gall ink is acidic, which is why documents written with it tend to degrade after several tens of years. This acidity is also the reason that it should ONLY be used with dip pens, since they are so easy to clean. (I could go on and on about iron gall ink and the travesty that it causes with medieval documents/books, because of things I learned when we were reenacting)

I don't know of any contemporary manufacturer of FP ink that uses gall, specifically for this reason. If you know of one, please post the perp... manufacturer's name and product so that we can make sure that we don't damage our lovely fountain pens with it.

[andrew98]

I curse your very existence, Lou.

That's more than I'm willing to commit at the moment, but if I get bit anywhere nearly as bad as I did with straights, I'm sure it won't be long. You don't know any good divorce attorneys, do you?

The sale of a couple nice straights (or one really nice straight) should cover the cost of that Sailor.

-Andy

[Price]

No no no no. I'm not that far down this rabbit hole yet. Maybe I'll start selling plasma or something.

[DunEdinRanger]

I curse your very existence, Lou.

That's more than I'm willing to commit at the moment, but if I get bit anywhere nearly as bad as I did with straights, I'm sure it won't be long. You don't know any good divorce attorneys, do you?


Have you tried Co-Opting SWMBO? That is giving her a nice pen, ink and notepad of her own? :confused1

BTW It is never too early to start dropping hints for gifts, especially if you can con - er persuade some relatives to chip in together for it...

[Price]

Well, I want to just try it for a bit with what I've got, see if I'm comfortable enough with the standard nibs or if I need to go lefty-specific when I do jump up in class. SWMBO is really quite understanding, she gets a kick out of my "little shaving routine", so I'm sure if I start dropping little hand-written love notes (I can't remember which one of you geniuses suggested that little gem to me) I think she'll probably be fine with the pens, too.

Oh, and hey, I do have a birthday coming up, now that you mention it, but I've already expressed my undying desire for a Tony Miller horse. Maybe if I win that Bill Ellis...

[Price]

Since you asked, Geordon, I posted them all here (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/243672-The-Nib-Acquisitions-August-2011?p=3403592#post3403592).

[79spitfire]

I've been hording.. ur ah.. collecting fountain pens for a year now. I keep thinking just this one more, or I'll be happy when I learn to restore pen XYZ..

It's not working. I'm now pretty sure if I wanted to I could use a different pen every day and not have to repeat for 8 mos or so...:crying:

Right now I'm acquiring tools and supplies to restore Parker Vacumatics... and have three willing victims sitting here..